The Journey
by VOTH
Summary: Naruto has a very comfortable, happy life. But everything is getting old... so, on a whim, he packs the bare minimum and leaves on an adventure all alone, letting the wind take him where it pleases. Naruto X Hinata. Updated at least once a week.
1. Chapter 1, Atypical

Okay, for everyone out there reading this, this is my very very first fanfic I've ever made, written on a whim and the sudden urge to write in the middle of the night. It's been looked over and edited and read by someone else before I posted it to make sure it's good, but if you beg to differ, or if you agree, or if you're somewhere in between, let me know in a review! Sits and waits excitedly. By the way, though it is not yet, it _will _become a NaruHina fanfic in a few chapters. I plan to do one more chapter every week, to be posted Sunday evening. I'll tell you if it will take longer.

Ding! "One more please!" came the familiar bell and voice. Uzumaki Naruto sat at his usual spot in the ramen bar which had mind as well conformed to his rear. Every day he went, same spot, same motion of breaking the chopsticks, same grey and black speckled bowls, same smell, same rituals every day. And he didn't mind it a bit!

A few fidgety minutes later a bowl of pork ramen plopped down in front of him. Not surprisingly, it didn't take much time at all for him to finish it. He needed no justification for his unhealthy diet, his body had never complained and he had always been capable and strong without good food choices, besides the occasional apple or orange Kakashi shoved down his throat. Same food, every day, day after day. Once he was finished draining the bowl he placed it back on the counter and bade farewell to the kind grandfatherly cook and his daughter.

Once he got home he threw off his jumpsuit, took a hot shower, and threw himself on the bed with his favorite nightcap on. He lay on his bed for a few minutes, picking out shapes in the ceiling by moonlight. Most of them he had found on nights before. It was like looking at shapes in clouds, only these shapes didn't roll past and change shape. Always there, every night. He even found one that looked like Sakura. He laughed at his old crush. He remembered that he would even get nervous at that pattern in the ceiling when he still liked her. Now though his heart had become fickle and no longer desired her. He may be rash and stupid, but he was smart enough to stay out of relationships, at least at this age. They just never seemed to work. With this thought in mind, he didn't mind Sakura chasing after Sasuke, he already knew the outcome if they ever did go out. He had warned her a few days before that she shouldn't be looking for boys at this age, but she just pushed him away, muttering something about 'true love' or 'eternal love.' Both seem to come out of girls' mouths a lot.

He pulled the messy covers over himself, like he did every night, and went to sleep, letting his dreams tug him this way and that. This dream, however, was different. In this dream everyone in Konoha had taken on a stiff posture and were without color. The sun shot over his head within one minute, then immediately came up on the other side of the horizon once that minute was over. People would rush by him at the speed addressed by the sun. Everything moved in a blur, like he was caught in a time warp and everything was sped up. After a few repetitions of this, though, he realized that he was watching the same scene over and over again. People would move in the same place at the same time in the same direction they did a minute ago. He could do nothing but sit in the road and watch his fellow villagers rush by, repeating the same thing over and over again.

The alarm clock rang suddenly on his bedside, forcing him awake. He smacked the top of it and shot himself out of bed with the same energy he had every morning. "Time to get going!" he shouted loud enough that his neighbor smacked the wall and gave him a muffled yell, telling him to be quiet. He grabbed his jumpsuit off of the floor, shoveled his eggs and toast down his throat and went off to train with Jiraya. Ever since Tsunade had been instated as the hokage, he had been under Jiraya's wing. Today was just strength building, but Naruto had come to the realization that, even though it was boring, it was an important thing if he wished to become Hokage.

During the training Jiraya picked up on something in Naruto. "What's up?"

"Huh?" asked Naruto in the middle of a push-up, "What do you mean?"

"Well," he said, "You haven't said hardly anything to me today, and you haven't been making your traditional noises you make when putting effort into something. Spill it. What is it?"

"Nothing's wrong," Naruto insisted.

"There is if you won't share it with me. Come on, I'm your teacher, I won't tell anyone."

Naruto finished his last push-up, then climbed a tree up to the highest branches it had. Jiraya followed. He could see that he was looking over at distant hills, his deep blue eyes underplaying an intent look. "Ah," he said, "It's itchy feet you've got."

"What?" Naruto said, his eyes losing that glazed look and breaking its contact with the hills, "I don't have athlete's foot…"

"No, no, no," said Jiraya, "I mean you want to go on the road. See new places."

"I do not!" said Naruto, falling into his old habit of making nearly everything an argument. "I like it here in Konoha! I love the food, the housing, the familiar streets, the people I know…"

"But it's all gotten old to you, hasn't it?"

Naruto fell silent. He recalled the dream he had last night and, after a long pause, recounted it with Jiraya.

"Ah," he said, "I see. Everything's gotten old to you."

Naruto returned his gaze to the hills. As much as the old pervert's suggestion didn't make sense, he knew he was right. He felt his path was so well known, so guided, yet so uninspiring and so unfufilling. He recalled that last night at the ramen bar where he thought he saw the same pattern in the black speckles at the bottom of the bowl he had seen earlie. Even his crush on Sakura had faded and blinked out of existence. It seemed that the comfort of the repetition and the few things he had left to do here were the only things that were keeping him here.

There was a long silence. "What is keeping you here?" asked Jiraya. "It can't be Sakura, it's easy to tell that you've lost interest in her. You can get ramen anywhere. You've already surpassed Sasuke in power. And you never really referred to your apartment as being your home you love. Why are you still here?"

Naruto thought about this for a second, then gazed toward the ground far below. "The things I've yet to do here, things that are still new. I've always wanted to get to know Hinata a little better. There are missions that send me out for days at a time, and I still want to gain the title of Hokage."

Jiraya answered without hesitation. "You can attain the last two things outside of Konoha anyways. In fact, becoming Hokage almost requires it. And as for Hinata, there are plenty of other people out there to meet and get to know."

Naruto had never seen Jiraya take something so seriously before. He wasn't even suggesting him and Hinata as an item. But the scariest part was what he was suggesting. The words 'outside of Konoha' scared him. Was he suggesting that he leave the village? But this was his home. He knew everything here by heart. But at the same time, he knew that this was the reason he had to leave.

"The prospect of traveling is scary," said Jiraya as though he was reading his thoughts. "You never know where you'll sleep, unless you've planned ahead. You never know what you're going to eat for your next meal, sometimes you'll go without one. And you don't recognize anything. Everything is new, and you don't know who anyone is or what anything is. But you'll never be bored except every once in a while you're walking. It helps people grow more often than not. And when you return, you'll appreciate everything you had before more than when you left."

Naruto was obviously too thoughtful to do any more work, and he was exhausted anyways. "Training is over for today," said Jiraya. "I'd spend a little time in the hot springs to help your mind work if I were you." Then he leapt off and walked back towards the village.

Breaking his trance, he decided to take Jiraya's advice. He spent a good long time in the hot spring, until his fingers and toes were pruney. Then, his mind made up, he went home and got to bed early without seeing or talking to anyone.

He woke up about two in the morning by will. Packing the bare minimum, extra clothes, sleeping bag, and food to last him a few days, along with his weapons and jumpsuit on his person, he heaved his backpack on his back and walked down the road to the gate. He had a little while until they opened at sunrise, so he sat on the ground waiting for them to open. He wasn't drowsy at all. He was too nervous. But he knew he had to do this. He didn't know where he was going or how he was going to get there, but he would get there by any means necessary.

Just as he was about to step out of the gates a timid voice rung behind him like a small silver bell. "Naruto-Kun…?" He turned around and saw Hinata watching him in the middle of the road. Her blank white eyes were inquisitive and curious, as well as concerned and frightened. Naruto looked at her with an emotionless stare, which after a moment was replaced with a look of determination depicted with furrowed eyebrows and a strong gaze. Without saying a word he turned and walked out onto the road. Hinata could do nothing but stare as her love walked into the sunrise. It seemed as though he was walking into the depths of the sun itself, bent on conquering it. She watched him until he faded out of view.


	2. Chapter 2, Omane

This is the second chapter in The Journey. Yes, I said that I would update on Sundays, but I had another urge to write and I got an entire chapter done, so I'm publishing it. I think there will be a Sunday update too. Whee! Okay, on with the story.

Chapter 2

After a day's worth of waking, Naruto finally reached a town. His backpack wasn't too heavy, so he wasn't too exhausted from the walking. He bought a light dinner to save his non-perishable foods, bought some more trail rations, and slept in the forest that night. He had plenty of money for a room, but he didn't want to waste any of it. The next morning he got up, bought a hardy breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes and struck out for the road again. He didn't see what Ero-Sennin was talking about at all! This wasn't exciting _or _fun. All of the people in this village had just ignored him.

He spent a week of just wandering from town to town, keeping tabs on his wallet, which was still stuffed (something he was very proud of), and training in the forest when he got tired of walking. He would make a game of it. He would see how far he could go by just hopping in one minute, or trying to stay over the path without touching it by jumping from tree to tree. "Man," he thought, "I'm just like Shikamaru, I can make anything entertaining."

Then he began to think of home. Home, he thought. Even though it was mundane, and even though he had only been gone for a week, he was beginning to miss it. Fighting Sasuke, hanging out with Sakura, getting ramen with Iruka…

"Great," he said aloud, "now I sound like a kid that ran away." He had promised himself that he wouldn't go back, and so he wouldn't. That was that. Besides, adventuring without a map or any idea where you were going was interesting and fun in its own respects. The road always brought something new at the end, but it in and of itself was, in its own way, beautiful. Though honestly he didn't think he had learned a thing. Maybe he was traveling wrong if he wasn't getting anything out of it, like if you do an exercise incorrectly. Or maybe Jiraya was pulling his leg. He didn't know. He decided that he would just get to the next town for now.

When he got there he found that it was against the mountain, and that a hot spring was there. "Oh, why not?" he asked himself. He checked in to the counter, got changed, and did a cannonball in the water. "Hey!" shouted a voice from the other side of the spring. "What the hell are you doing?"

As Naruto resurfaced he saw the person scowling at him. He had black hair, and his pale skin and bright blue eyes contrasted it. "Maybe _you_ need to calm down," he said, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.

The other boy just rolled his eyes. "Nevermind," he said, closing his eyes, continuing to soak. Naruto wasn't finished though. He swam over beside him and poked him. "Why are you so grumpy anyways?" he asked in his childish, flat voice.

The boy opened one eye. "Who the hell are you to ask if I'm okay?"

Naruto was taken back. "I didn't ask if you were okay! I was just wondering what was wrong!"

The boy laughed. "Ah, so you're being nosy. That's a whole lot better."

Naruto, outsmarted, began to pout and plopped himself onto the natural seat. The boy laughed and smiled. "Haha, it's okay, don't worry about it. I'm Omane. Who are you?"

Naruto, looking relieved, stuck his hand out in friendship. "I'm Naruto!" he said excitedly. He figured by now that yelling that he wanted to be Hokage to every person he met would make it easier to track him, as if the orange jumpsuit wasn't enough. The point was for nobody to find him They shook hands, then both agreed to finish their hot spring before they talked any more. Later, after Naruto revealed that he was traveling, Omane excitedly offered to show him around town, to which Naurto answered with a vigorous nodding of the head.

The first place Omane took him was to the local Kabuki theatre. Naruto had never seen anything like it, and wondered why Konoha didn't have something like this. He was enthralled at the acting and dancing, and was on the edge of his seat for the entire performance. Omane saw this and laughed, to which Naruto asked what was so funny. He just shook his head and continued watching, leaving Naruto where he was.

Afterwards he was taken to the local sushi shop. "Here," said Omane, "I'll get you some sushi.

Naruto made a disgusted face. "I don't like sushi," he said adamantly.

"Well, what about tempura?"

Naruto shook his head

Omane looked across the street. "Any fruit or vegetables?"

Same response.

"Well, what do you like? I want to get you something."

The response didn't happen a second after the question. "Ramen!" He said, sticking his finger into the air. He looked very foolish in that posture.

Omane laughed. "We have a ramen shop here. BUT!" he put his hand up slightly, "I'm not getting you any ramen until you try some sushi here."

Naruto was outraged. "What?! Why?"

"Because," explained Omane, "our sushi is some of the best. Really, you have to try it."

Actually, Naruto had never tried sushi. He just knew that Sakura didn't like it, and since they had so many things in common, he decided that he probably didn't like it either. But, if he was going to be given ramen for it, maybe he would try just a bite…

Omane gave the sushi vendor a couple dollars and a tray of hand-rolled sushi was received. Omane gave Naruto a piece, who took a tentative bite. His eyes suddenly lit up. "Heyyyy," he said, 'this isn't too bad!" He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, chewing rather rudely and loudly. "Would you mind if we stayed here for lunch instead of Ramen?" he asked.

"Of course!" he said, "I love sushi."

They stayed there in a booth, talking about each other's lives. Naruto explained that he was traveling from Konoha, how he was trained by one of the legendary Sannin, and of his dream to one day become Hokage. Omane in turn told Naruto about his life. He had stayed in this village for all of it, but instead of traveling to find new things, he would make his life more exciting by exploring in areas of the town he didn't know. Naruto suddenly felt very foolish, but Omane cheered him up by explaining that staying home wasn't always the best thing, and that whatever Naruto had chosen was the right choice. Naruto was instantly cheered up.

It was getting dark, so Omane and Naruto got up out of the booth and walked outside. "I'm going to head home," said Omane, "dinner will probably be done soon. Say, Naruto, I know you're traveling, but do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Oh, I sleep out in the woods," he explained. "It costs a lot less than a hotel."

They shared a laugh. "Well, we have an extra room at our house, would you like to come and stay with us for the night?"

Naruto's eyes beamed. "Sure!" he said. And so Omane lead him back to his house, accepted dinner from them, then lay down on the bed in the guest room and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Naruto kicked himself out of bed, put his jumpsuit on, which had been washed by Omane's mother, and went to breakfast. Afterwards, Omane insisted that he show him more of the village. They spent all that day doing the same thing they did the day before, exploring the town and helping the outsider from Konoha learn his way around. They visited food stands, shopping centers, the hot springs one more time, a parade that was happening that day, and did as many things as they could possibly do in the time that the sun allotted.

Naruto was invited to come stay at Omane's house again, and Naruto graciously accepted. They gave him some pork ramen to eat that night, but after trying so many new and interesting things here, it wasn't as exciting as trying sushi for the first time. Or the second time. Or even the third time. He wanted to try new things more and more as the day wore on.

That night, as he lay in bed, he thought about all that had happened, and was convinced that he had been hooked on traveling. He was already in love with meeting new people and trying new things, and he didn't have any regrets about leaving Konoha… well… any but one… This, though, he pushed out of his mind and set his thoughts for what he would do the next day. After tomorrow, he decided, he would head onwards to another town. He couldn't stay here forever, and he wanted to see what else the world had in store for him.

The next day, over sushi, Naruto said that this would be the last day he would stay here. Omane was very sad to hear this. "Don't you like it here?" he asked. "You should see it in spring, oh, the cherry blossoms are beautiful. At least stay until then. I also saw a few girls getting a bit fanciful about you…" He winked.

Naruto choked up at the last comment, but continued: "No, I can't stay here for two reasons. One, I promised that I wouldn't return until I've found my destination, and I don't know what it is, but this isn't it. Two, if I stayed here, it would just become another Konoha. Wouldn't that be terrible if it was ruined by too much exposure? I love it here, but if I stay here too long then it will all get boring and mundane so soon."

Omane didn't like his reasoning, but he nodded anyways, then let his shoulders sag and his gaze turn downwards. Naruto looked at him cheerfully. "Come on, don't get all depressed on my last day. We have so much to do! What do you want to do next?"

He tilted his head back upwards and smiled. It was sad to lose a friend, even one you haven't known for very long. Both of them knew that. But it would give Naruto the chance to make more friends, and what true friend would deny another that chance?

That night, while he was lying in bed, Naruto began to wonder why he missed Konoha. What did he leave behind? His friends Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka, and Kakashi, for starters. But they weren't the ones making him sad. It was something, no, someone else. And so, he began to run names through his head, even ones he knew he didn't know very well. "Neji? No. Lee? No. Shikamaru? No." He tickled them off on his fingers, each time mouthing the name of someone he knew. "Wait… no, it couldn't be… could it?"

The next morning, before everyone woke up, he got all of his things together, packed them neatly into his bag, and took off just as the evening star was leaving view. It was brisk, but not cold, just like autumn should be. Summer was just ending and fall was beginning, making the world around him a beautiful mix of autumn leaves and green ones. He leaned his head back and rested it on his hands. All he could think about was the one thing he regretted leaving behind, the one thing he missed the most in Konoha, and he didn't even realize that he had it until it wasn't there anymore.


	3. Chapter 3, The Farm

Okay, now I know something's wrong with me. It's 1:16 A.M., I just finished chapter 2, and I still feel like writing, despite being so tired. And no, I'm not going to finish it tonight, but I still want to write. Must… write… agh! Oh well, I guess another update before Sunday. All of you reading should feel special. Or cursed. Depends on if you like it or not.

Chapter 3

Hinata, though very quiet, was being even more introverted than usual. Kiba picked up on this quickly and approached her about it one warm, sunny fall afternoon. "What's up, Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata hadn't noticed Kiba come up behind her, but she wasn't startled when he came. She continued to keep her gaze on the ground far below her third story window, where people moved like ants or flies with their busy schedules in hand and mind. She gave no answer to Kiba.

"Oh, come on," he said, "I know something's troubling you. I've been your partner and friend for years. What is it?"

Her gaze persistently kept its intensity on the ground. "Why…" she asked herself inwardly, "Why did you have to leave…? What was it out there that wasn't in here?" Her train of thought ran wild again, as it did much of the time.

Kiba saw her fall deeper in herself. He placed a hand on her shoulder and moved up beside her. "Is it about Naruto?"

Hinata didn't have her usual surprised expression when someone brought that topic up. She didn't care anymore. She knew that it was obvious that she liked him, and she knew it was obvious that he wasn't coming back. And she knew that it didn't matter anymore. She couldn't feel. She couldn't breathe. It felt like a clamp was being placed on her heart, and that it was being squeezed tighter and tighter. She couldn't cry anymore, no matter how much she wished the tears would come. Finally, she just decided to do the thing she was best at: running.

Leaving Kiba, who called out to her as she jumped away, in the dust, she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, watching people blur by below her. To her she felt like she was in a dream, that she was moving slowly, and that the world around her was moving fast. People rushed around, houses changed constructs as she moved from one to another. Soon she found herself jumping into air, and she barely landed on her feet. Here, after watching everything move by her so quickly, she found herself standing in the rubble of a house at the edge of the village where no one went anymore.

The wall stood up high above her, and effortlessly she climbed it using the tree climbing technique she had learned. Then looked out at the endless forest that seemed to shield the village from all around, she began to contemplate. It was so safe in here, why would Naruto ever want to leave?

She walked along the top of it, looking down at where her feet were stepping right before they stepped there. "Maybe this is why Naruto never notices me," she thought, "All I ever do is look down at where my feet are, letting them carry me away. Naruto always has his eyes facing up into the sky, dreaming. True, he does trip a lot that way, but he always picks himself up again and continues to stare at the clouds, so full of hope and wonder. Every moment it seems like he could just sprout wings and fly away. Me, I can't imagine myself as being anything besides an earthworm, always staring at the ground." Suddenly, she stopped. "What if…" She began to think. Then she recalled the gate at which Naruto had left through.

Quickly she ran across the wall until she found it, then leapt down the hundreds of feet onto the village side of it, her feet hardly making a sound when she landed. She took a quiet breath and felt her spirit begin to wash itself clean. "Couldn't I start over?" she asked herself, "Isn't that the opportunity the road provides?" Slowly, carefully, she watched her feet take the first step outside of the village, then the second, then the third, each step becoming easier than the last. Soon she was at a full walk, and her hands had moved from their usual place near her face to her sides, swinging back and forth."We're the same, really," she thought. "Neither of us really had parents. I have blood parents, but they don't care about me or my well being. Naruto didn't even have parents to guide him. We both have grown up on our own. Also…" she thought, "Neither of us have anything in the village for us anymore. Now that he's gone, what do I have to lose? Not very many friends, besides Kiba, and nothing that is really my own."

Before she knew it, she could no longer see the village behind her, and her gaze had risen hopefully towards the sky.

Naruto, however, had become weary. He had traveled for days, and his trail rations were getting low. Worse off, he didn't know how much further it was through this god-forsaken forest to the next village, town, city, he didn't care, as long as it had food.

He took his backpack off and checked the pocked with rations. "Mental note:" he thought, "Trail rations can't _get_ any lower." As if he didn't know already. He put his backpack back on and continued his hike up the trail. He began to daydream as he stared up at the sky. Daydreams about eating sushi with Omane, fighting with Sasuke about every little thing, including who could stomach the most candy, noticing Hinata watching him from across the room, giving him that warm feeling inside… wait… what? Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden pain in his legs. "Great," he thought, "Now I'm hungry, lost, _and_ cramped." Nevertheless, he pressed on, trying to ignore the burning pain in his stomach and the sharp pain of the muscle tension. Finally, the pain, the hunger, and the exhaustion began to take its toll, and his vision faded into white. Doing his best, he dragged himself off the road, leaned himself against the side of a tree, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

When he awoke, he found himself on a bed. Slowly, he began to assert his position. "Where am I?" he thought. "On a bed in a room made of simple boards of wood. What's on me? My clothes and a cold, wet towel on my forehead. Who else is in here? A young girl my age in a simple dress. What time is it? Night." He deemed that this was sufficient information and slowly began to right himself. Immediately the girl at his side rested a hand against his chest and slowly let him down. "You mustn't get up," she said in a sweet voice that reminded him of roses in a breeze, "you've been out since this afternoon."

He flexed and relaxed his hands a couple times, then turned his head to get a better look at her. She had long, orange hair, but the bright color was subdued by her light green eyes and her relaxed posture. Her dress matched her eye color, and went all the way down to her feet. She brought her hand up from his chest to stroke his cheek. "Relax," she said, "You've have had a rough journey. Here," she said as she helped him upright against the backboard of the bed and the wall. She then reached down and picked up a bowl of potato soup. Naruto didn't like potatoes, but he accepted it as nourishment. She slowly fed it to him, then helped him back down on the bed, pulling the covers up over him. She touched his cheek with the back of her hand again. "Sleep, traveler, sleep," she crooned. Naruto closed his eyes and obeyed.

The next morning he felt much better. His cramp was gone, and his stomach wasn't hurting as bad. He pushed the covers off and wandered into the hallway, which led to the dining room. Looking out the windows and feeling the ambience of the place, he could tell he was on a farm. The girl was there, with her father and mother, and before them was a breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes. The mother looked over at him. "Come, weary traveler. Have some breakfast!" Her daughter patted the seat next to her and smiled. A light blush appeared on her face as he sat down to eat. It didn't even take five minutes for his first helping to disappear, then he got another, which took even less time to eat now that he was used to chewing again. The family laughed.

After breakfast they all stood up. "Dear," said the mother, "Would you mind giving this boy a bath? He's absolutely filthy."

Naruto went pale. "Wait, _give_ me a bath?" His paleness suddenly changed into a huge blush.

The girl laughed. "Why are you blushing?" she asked. "We always wash each other. Mom gives dad a bath, dad gives mom a bath, and mom always washes me." Naruto found this very odd. But then again, it _was_ a farm, and he knew they did things slightly differently here. However, he still refused. "I'm sorry, but I would be more comfortable washing myself," he said.

A flash of disappointment crossed the girl's face, which was suddenly replaced with a smile. "Okay," she said, "Let me get you the things you need to wash yourself."

After he had washed himself behind the house, clothed himself in some comfortable things the family gave him, and eaten again, the girl approached him. "Would you like me to show you the countryside?" she asked. Naruto's face beamed "Sure!" he said, and he fell in behind her as she led him away from the house out towards the rolling hills.

They walked in silence, admiring the scenery, until they reached the top of the tallest hill, from where you could see miles around. The nice house, which was a good large size, now looked like a tiny speck in the distance. "I'm so sorry," she said politely, "I have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Sakiru." She added a curtsey onto the end of her sentence. "What is yours?"

Naruto let his ego shine, now that he had someone to show it off to. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I want to be the Hokage one day!" Instead of adding a polite gesture onto the end of his phrase, he stuck his thumb upwards and made a huge grin.

"Oh," she giggled, "Is that why you are journeying?'

Naruto stopped. "Well," he said, "I'm not sure why I'm journeying. I just… had to."

"Really?" she asked, interested. "What's your destination?"

He had been asking himself that same question on the whole journey. Was he trying to find somewhere new to stay? That couldn't be it. He had turned down staying in that wonderful village a little ways back. Both of them spent the rest of the time sitting on the hilltop and looking out over the horizon, leaving Sakiru's question hanging.

Naruto stayed at the farm for a little while, at the suggestion of Sakiru's parents. They said it would be a good idea to rest, and the journey would be much easier if he had a few good days of rest and relaxation. He had been fed well, and he had eaten well to match it. Sakiru was beginning to look over at him very frequently, blushing when he returned her gaze. She offered to bathe him one more time, but was refused again. When he was having trouble sleeping one night, she came in and sung him a lullaby. Finally, when the morning came to leave, Naruto planned to be gone before anyone had woken up. However, after he had traveled about a hundred feet, he heard Sakiru's voice behind him. "Please wait!" she called after him.

Naruto turned to her just before she embraced him in a warm hug, which was inviting on the cold day. Then she pulled her gaze upwards. "Do you really have to leave?" she asked, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "You don't have to go! You can stay here, my parents even said so! This can be your new home. We'd keep you warm and happy here, and we'd love you like family! And I'd love you even more…" Then , reaching her head up, she gave him a light kiss on the lips, then pulled him close. "Please, don't go…"

Naruto didn't know what to do. He didn't realize that she liked him like this, though in retrospect he thought himself a fool to not have noticed it before. After she had finished speaking, his words he had spoken to Omane returned in his mind: "I can't stay here for two reasons: One, I promised that I wouldn't return until I've found my destination, and I don't know what it is, but this isn't it. Two, if I stayed here, it would just become another Konoha."

"Sakiru…" he whispered. "I can't stay here."

Sakiru suddenly pulled back a few feet. "Why not?"

Naruto, instead of putting on a face of regret and gazing down, met her gaze with equal gentleness and intensity. "Because," he said, "The last time I stayed somewhere for too long, I outgrew it. I have to find my destination, no matter what."

"But what if it's here?" she asked desperately. "If you stayed here, you could save yourself so much trouble."

"If… If this is my destination, I will return. Though, I don't even know if my destination is a place at all. It could be something else. On the other hand, it could be that there is none, and I will wander all my life for it. If this is so, then my life will be full when I die even if I do not find it. If I do though, know that I'll still be here, in you, in the farm, on that hill we went to, everywhere. I'll be everywhere!" He stepped forward to wipe a tear from her eye. "I'll come back someday, I promise, even though I don't love you the way you love me. I'll come back."

She pulled her eyes from the ground up to him. "If you don't…?"

To this he replied by giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I will." With that he turned and faced down the road again, in the direction the owners of the farm had pointed him, not looking back at her or the house.


	4. Chapter 4, Hinata

Wow, this was intended to just be a little thing to help me get over my urge to write. Now look where I am, having too much fun and am in too deep to _stop _writing. Brilliant. Now I have to finish the story, no matter how long it takes me. I hope you're happy. Stop smiling. I still can't believe I'm writing fanfic. Oi.

Chapter 4

After about six hours into the trip, Hinata was beginning to get hungry. As she reached onto her back to get food, she realized that she had no backpack. And no backpack meant no food to speak of. She reached in her pockets and pulled them inside-out, but nothing was there but some lint. She sighed. Her best bet, she figured, was to make it to the next village as fast as she could. So, she climbed a tree and began to leap her way along the road. She was hurrying as fast as she could, for survival skills weren't exactly her forte and she had nothing to sleep in On top of that, the temperature was getting colder exponentially around her. If she didn't find some shelter soon, she would freeze, and she only had an hour until sunset. The biggest problem was, she had no idea how far it was to the next village.

Eventually, tree hopping had become tiring and it became too dark to see the branches in front of her, so she leapt down onto the road. She was beginning to become frightened. Now, she didn't know where she was, she had nothing in the way of food or drink, and she had nobody with her to help keep her company or to help protect her. Suddenly she heard a rustling in the bushes, and reacted by pulling out a pair of kunai and whipping her head around to see where the noise had come from.

She barely had enough time to react to the whistling noise of the shuriken being thrown at her from behind. She pulled her kunai up just in time to block the attack. Then another came at her from the side, which she just as quickly stopped. "Who's there?" she called out in her timid voice.

Two men about ten years her senior stepped out from either side of her. "What's the matter?" asked the first one, "Lost and lonely?"

"Hey," said the other slyly, "Don't look so upset, we're just here to keep you company… my little darling."

As they moved in on her, her mind began to break down in fear and panic. "What do I do?" she began to ask herself out loud, "What do I do? What do I do?"

As one grabbed Hinata's shoulder, she hacked at him, just barely missing, which made him fall backwards. Quickly acting on his imbalance, she threw one of her kunai at him, which danded just to the right of his sternum, digging in deep. She dashed past the stunned man, grabbing the kunai as she went. Then, spinning around, she drove the kunai into the back of his head, leaving it there as he fell to the ground. She looked at the one man left, blood spattering her hands and face. "I fight," she declared, answering the question she had asked herself earlier.

The man went pale at the violent murdering of his brother. "You… Fucking whore!" He grabbed six shuriken out of his pocket and threw them all at her at once. Every one of them hit their mark. Just as quickly though, the girl in front of him was replaced with a good-sized log. "What…? A…?"

The man felt a cold blade on his throat before he could finish his sentence. "Replacement technique," she finished just before she sliced his neck open.

Several minutes later, after she had dragged the bodies off to the side of the road, she looked at her hands, soaked with the blood of the men she had killed. "What… what have I done?" she asked herself. "I… coldheartedly killed two men… without hesitating…" She sobbed several times, then let out a high-pitched wail, one that could shake anyone to their very core. After falling down to her knees, she looked at her bloodstained hands again. "Isn't this what I was trained to do, though? To kill? Why should I have any remorse?"

But she felt it. She felt like she couldn't go on, that she should just give up right now and drown herself in a river or slit her own throat. Then, suddenly, Naruto's smiling face appeared in her mind. "No," she told herself, "I have to keep going. For his sake. For him!"

Suddenly, with newfound strength, she forced herself upwards, cleaned her hands and face off in a nearby stream, and continued her way down the trail. She walked continuously for several more days, without sleep, without food, only taking short breaks when she was too exhausted to continue or when she found a stream, where she took long drinks and cooled her hot, blistered feet. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she reached the next town.

Her first order of business, she decided, would be to get some food, then find an inn to stay at. However, all of the restaurants were closed, and the only inn in the town was full. She fell backwards against a wall and leaned there, looking at the night sky. The moon indicated that it was about two or three in the morning. She was so tired, she felt like she could sleep anywhere. She could imagine curling up into Naruto's arms and snuggling against his warm body… Just the thought of it was bliss. Then, just where she was, she fell asleep against the side of the building and slid down onto her back.

The next morning she found herself in a bed, the covers pulled up tight around her. Rubbing her eyes and yawning heavily, she pushed the covers off of her and tried to get out of bed, but collapsed. Her legs would not hold her up. A boy in the next room heard the noise and came rushing in to find the poor girl collapsed on the floor. "Hey, are you okay?" the boy asked, pulling her up and back on the bed.

Hinata looked around the room. "Where am I?" she asked tentatively.

"You just rest here," said the boy as he went into the other room and returned with a sandwich. "I hope this is enough," he said, offering the plate. Hinata suddenly locked her eyes on the food and began to eat ravenously. "I'm sorry for my rudeness," he said, "I've forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Omane. What's your name?"

Hinata took a break from eating for a second to catch her breath and to give him as best a bow she could manage sitting up. "I'm Hinata," she said politely. "It was very kind of you to take me in, but why do you have a second bed?"

Omane gave a friendly laugh. "We like to take travelers in who are passing by and don't have anywhere else to stay. It helps add flavor to our lives."

Hinata's ears perked up. "Really?" she asked, putting her sandwich down. "Did you happen to have anyone stop by here recently?"

"Why do you ask? Are you pursuing someone?"

Hinata blushed. "Well," she said, coming up with a quick fib, "Just one of my friends went out on a trip recently, and I was wondering if he had stopped here too."

"You're a terrible liar," laughed Omane, "but just telling you that he didn't want me to tell anyone he was here will probably be enough."

Hinata's eyes lit up. "Naruto-kun…" she muttered under her breath. She was on the right track after all! She had to be catching up now. "I have to leave as soon as possible!" she said. Suddenly her gaze turned down to her legs, and she realized that, currently, she had no means of locomotion. She felt hopeless again.

Omane smiled at her. "Don't look so down," he said, "I've seen people with this problem before. Some good eating and rest will have you up on your feet in no time, if not a little bit sore."

Once again, her heart rose. She could be back on the road in as little as one day! Her appetite suddenly returned and she grabbed the sandwich, taking very unladylike bites. Omane asked if he would have to get some more food to fill her belly, and Hinata nodded vigorously, not even taking a break from her sandwich to answer.

For the rest of the night and the next day Omane helped take care of Hinata, even going out of his way to get her some cheap, yet usable, traveling things, including some non-perishable food, a backpack, bedroll, and a map and compass. Hinata seemed to be eating and drinking nonstop through the whole day, and her hunger never seemed to go away.

That night, when Omane came to place a glass of water next to her bedside, he sat down in the chair next to it and spoke to her. "You know," he said, "He talked about you when he was here a week ago."

Hinata, who was half asleep, turned over to look at him. "He…did?"

Omane nodded. "He seemed to be talking about you more than he intended. He went on about how you would look at him and he always got this strange warm feeling inside when he noticed it, and how he liked talking to you when you approached him, and how he felt like he could tell you anything, and how cute…" He stopped. "Sorry, I've already told you too much. The point is that he made it adamantly clear that he liked you. A little bit more than he was letting on, methinks." He laughed. "That guy was a terrible liar." He told her goodnight and left the room.

Hinata toyed with the idea in her mind. Could he really…? No, she told herself, it was too good to be true. But… was it really? She toyed with this idea until finally her tired body and mind gave way to sleep.

The next morning she saw that it was a very long distance to the next village, so she decided to pack some extra rations. After a hearty meal that would stick with her a good long time, she bade farewell to Omane and his family, her heart set towards catching up with Naruto. She felt that he was so close she could already hold him in her arms. "Hardly even a week away," she said to herself. With renewed strength she took large strides out onto the path, her arms on the shoulder straps. Her gaze was level with the ground, and held behind it an iron will and a determination that could rival even Naruto's.


	5. Chapter 5, Reminiscence

Thank god it is spring break; otherwise I would be in some serious trouble for staying up so late to write these stories. I wouldn't be able to wake up on time, even with my meager sleep requirements. Current time: 1:10…A.M. Save me from this horrid addiction to writing. (And once again, I did not finish it that night)

Chapter 5

Naruto walked for a few more days until he finally reached his first major destination: The city of Ninreji. This was one of the more wild cities where neon lights glowed in the dark, advertising for things such as restaurants, night clubs, and live performances of plays. Gambling halls dotted the city randomly, most of them with bars right next to them. Naruto found it hard to believe that this was a coincidence. There was even an amusement park in the depths of the city. Just outside of the town was a sign: "Welcome to Ninreji," it declared, "The city of night." It was not dubbed this because it was evil, but because all of the activities there were open even after daylight hours.

Naruto was not a huge fan of bustling cities, and this was exactly what it was. People shoved past each other, either having to get somewhere in a hurry or just because they couldn't see anyone in the dark. Naruto even got bumped into by several drunks. One of them got angry at him until someone else accidentally brushed him and he started yelling at them instead.

He was relieved when he finally got to the quiet inn. He ordered a room and threw himself onto the soft bed, piling the pillows around his head and taking off his jumpsuit, not even bothering to get in his pajamas. Even though it was one of the cheapest ones, it was still quite elegant, with a clean tatami floor, a full sized bed, and a window overlooking the city. Very close to the inn was the amusement park. He doubted that the location of it was a coincidence either. However, he decided that the next day he would take a visit. For now he crawled under the covers and tried to get to sleep.

He found this difficult, however. He stayed up, pondering over his decision of leaving. So far, he had done many things, made new friends, live on a farm, tried new food, and even had a girl fall in love with him. But still, something was missing, and it troubled him for hours, distracting him from sleep. It was like building a puzzle and having a single piece missing; without it, even though it was beautiful, it wasn't complete, and it would nag him forever until he found that one little piece that seemed so insignificant, yet was so vital. "What was it?" he continually asked himself. Finally, his mind tired and let him slowly fall asleep.

That next day he slowly got out of bed, the question still nagging him. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and lay on the bed for a little while. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Augh," he yelled, "What is it?!" Someone pounded on the wall for him to shut up, and he just pounded back once. He looked out the window, as if scanning the city for an answer. "Maybe if I go do something it will help keep my mind off of it," he thought. And so, he trekked over to the amusement park.

He got an all day pass and rode all the rides they had to offer, even their world-famous roller coaster. But even as he was hooting and hollering and throwing his hands up into the air, the nagging question of what the missing piece was would not go away. He went over to a stand, bought some cotton candy, and sat down on a bench, pulling pieces off and stuffing them into his mouth, and after he was done, he was so preoccupied in his thoughts that he accidentally tore off a piece of paper and ate it. He didn't notice until he had eaten three or four pieces, then he spat out his fifth, throwing the paper away in disgust. He quickly forgot about it though and turned toward the sky.

He saw a lonely cloud roll overhead. It was then that he realized what was missing: He was lonely. Whenever he had gone somewhere, he wasn't alone. Omane kept him company in the first town he went to; there was the girl and her family at the farm. On the road there was the excitement of not knowing where he would wind up next, and this had been company enough. But now, surrounded by people, he felt lonelier than he ever had before.

He spent the next two days in his room, staring out the window, lying on his bed, soaking in the tub, and absentmindedly twirling a kunai around on his finger. He didn't say a word through those whole days. He began to see faces of people he knew in the patterns in the ceiling and walls, his friends, his enemies, and everyone in between. However, one person kept reoccurring in these images: Hyuuga Hinata. Why though? Why her? He mouthed her name, then said it aloud, his first words in the last couple of days. "Hyuuga Hinata… Hinata… Hinata…" He said it in the same quiet voice each time, recalling her face over and over. The name sounded as beautiful as any song he had ever heard. And then, for the next couple of hours, she remained in his mind, the memory of her taunting him and teasing him. It wasn't that he had been away from her for very long, it was the fact that he probably wouldn't ever see her again that bothered him.

'Why her?' He asked himself over and over, 'Why? We didn't know each other nearly as well as most friends do. But why can't I stop thinking about her all of a sudden?' It pestered him and would continue to do so until he could convince himself that he had left her behind along with his old life. He had to get farther away from Konoha, farther away from who he once was, farther away from _her._

The next morning he checked out, gathered his things, and went across the city to the road. He looked back one last time, half wishing (but not admitting it to himself) that Hinata was behind him. When he finally saw that she was nowhere to be seen, he made his way down the path, looking over his shoulder every few minutes, hoping beyond hope that she was following just behind.

A few days later he arrived at an inn along the road, where he could restock on supplies and sleep in a more comfortable bed. It was here, in a more peaceful place, where he decided to take his real rest. There was a beautiful Japanese garden in the back next to a hot spring where weary travelers could warm up and wind down. He had also twisted his ankle terrible when he fell off the side of the road, and it hurt to even step on it. So, he decided to stay for a few days to let it heal; he was in no rush. It was a little bit costly, but he decided that he had been gentle enough on his wallet that he could afford to stay here for a little while. He checked in, took one of the few available rooms and went to the hot spring to help loosen his sprained ankle. He would leave soon and would be glad to be back on the road to help take his mind off of what he left behind. For now, though, the hot springs would do.

Three days after Naruto left, Hinata arrived in Ninreji. Just to make sure she wasn't going off on the wrong trail, she spent a couple of hours going from inn to inn, asking around if Naruto had been there and was overjoyed to hear that he had stayed there. On a whim, she ran to the room that he had stayed in which had been vacant since he had left. She sat on the bed and looked around the room, spying Naruto in the many patterns in the walls, just like he had spotted her. Lying down, she imagined him lying down next to her, curled up under the blankets. She giggled. 'He always looked so adorable when he slept,' she thought, 'even when he was on the bench at recess back when we went to school.' She smiled and closed her eyes for a moment, letting the image of him intensify in her mind.

After a few minutes of that she got up and looked out the window, spying the road far away on the other side of the town. "I have to catch up to him," she thought, "He's so close… so close…" She closed her eyes again and imagined his face. "If I want to actually see his face again," she said to herself, "I can't slow down one bit." She had closed in by four days already, and if she got going now, she could catch up to him soon, possibly within a week.

Quickly, she made her way through the lines of buildings, ignoring restaurants with nice food and only stopping to buy some extra trail rations before leaving. As she moved into the forest she took a long breath of air in, and then slowly let it out. "Okay," she told herself, "Let's pick up the pace!" And with that she leapt into a tree and shot off jumping from tree branch to tree branch in search of Naruto, the one she loved.


	6. Chapter 6, The Inn

Chapter 6

Naruto was in the garden that night letting his mind wander far away, leaving him at peace. Here he could remain immobile, yet not think about anything other than the place's beauty. He felt like he could just stay here the whole time, letting himself heal and not having to think about what was bothering him at all. Here at least, he couldn't even remember what was bothering him earlier. He fell asleep peacefully on the bench, letting all of his worries be melted away by the mid-afternoon sun.

A couple of hours after Naruto fell asleep Hinata had arrived at the inn. She felt lucky that the roads so far did not split, but instead only divided at towns. This was thanks to the way the cities and towns were arranged in the area, something the old constructors had planned probably. She was also able to guess the psychology of Naruto and chart out where he was going to go. Since he was trying to escape from the village of Konoha, he would probably take as straight of a line away from it as he could to get as far away as possible in the shortest amount of time.

This, along with the reassurance of the clues she found along the way, helped her discern where to go. She had found small trinkets that he kept around, like a piece of his favorite candy that had probably fallen out of his pocket, and a small piece of orange cloth, most likely from his jumpsuit. She guessed that it had probably been torn off when he tripped on a rock. This offered a possibility that he had hurt his ankle or some other part of his body, and he might stop at the inn to let it heal for a day or two.

She was also grateful that she had traveled a little bit longer during the night. She knew that she could move well over triple walking speed by jumping from trees, and she expected to see him at least by nightfall. She had become more worrisome the later it became, however and for no apparent reason had almost lost hope of finding him before the moon was rising.

A glimmer of hope appeared on her face as she reached the inn, however. It was probable that he would stay here, especially since it had a hot spring. She knew how he loved hot springs, and recalled the time when she, seeing that they were both alone in their respective waters, peeked through to the other side and saw Naruto alone, leaping around and splashing playfully in the water. She had soon pulled away after she heard someone coming, and was blushing like mad when they came. The girls had insisted that she was getting too red and that she get out of the spring before she hurt herself.

When she walked up to the counter and asked the clerk if he was there, she responded with a no. Hinata then asked for a room to stay in, and the lady asked for the fee and offered her room number to her. She figured that, even though he might not be here, she could afford to stay there for one night. She also suspected that he may have wizened up and stopped leaving his name in the log, which still gave the chance that he was there.

She got a room that had a sliding door leading directly to the gardens. Once she had put her things in the room down, she decided that it would be nice to sit in the gardens during the sunset and clear her mind. She had been preoccupied by tracking Naruto for days, and decided that she deserved some rest When she opened the door, however, she saw a pair of blue shoes with orange leggings lying on a bench just around the corner. What excited her most, however, was the piece of cloth missing on one of the legs.

She couldn't believe it, even though her calculations were probably right about her finding him at this time of day. But she had to peek around just to be sure, and lo and behold, he lay there on his back, his body and everything around it dyed a dark shade of red by the sunset. His jumpsuit looked very dirty and dusty and carried many rips in it. The face, however, was clean, and his face was scrunched up as though in pain with his eyebrows ruffled. 'He's probably dreaming,' she thought to herself.

It had been a very long week…or couple of weeks… hell, for all she knew it had been months. She was too intent on her goal to notice the passage of time as anything other than knowing when to sleep and eat; or to notice anything else for that matter. Suddenly, with the person she had been chasing lying so close to her, she froze up. She had pursued him this far just to confess how much she loved him, and to pray that he loved her back, and had promised to herself that she wouldn't hesitate for a moment to tell him her feelings. And now she couldn't do it. She couldn't do it!

'Why is this so hard?' she thought, 'All I have to do is wake him up and tell him that I love him. I've wanted to do this for so long, I've waited for such a long time, I can't take it anymore!' She forced herself to move closer to him and walked over to his side. Just as she was about to touch him to wake him up, however, she froze. 'But if he says no, it's… it's all over! I'll just be an annoyance again! I'll be even less to him!' Suddenly, she collapsed in a heap onto the ground and pulled her legs close to her. There she sat, curled up into a small ball, her white eyes concentrated on the object of her love, desire… and fear. Silent tears ran down her pale face and were absorbed by her cream colored jacket.

"Why?" she asked herself aloud, "Why, why, why?" She dropped her head into her arms. "Why did it have to be like this?"

Naruto, lying on the bench, remained locked in dream. This wasn't like any of the others he'd ever had; this involved Hinata. He saw her being forced to train by her father to achieve greater heights, then being put down by him. He saw her peeking around corners of buildings and behind trees to watch him train or to relax.

Most importantly, though, he saw her and Neji in their fight in the preliminaries for the chuunin exams. He watched helplessly as he continued to drive her spirit into the ground and destroy the inside of her body, making her spew blood onto the ground. This time, however, he wasn't able to take her blood in his hands and vow to Neji that he would defeat him at whatever cost.

He wasn't there to defend her.

His last image was that of her in front of him, both of them surrounded by a pitch black, a color that didn't remind him of darkness, but of death and woe. Hinata was emitting a light that seemed to dispel the evil around her. Naruto, however, was being groped at and pulled apart by hands that came out from the walls. Just as he was about to be ripped to pieces, Hinata grew great angel's wings and darted to him through the air. She touched the center of his chest with her index finger and immediately he began to shine with the same brilliance that she had. Immediately the hands dissolved, and the black around them was replaced by white.

She felt like she could die. Her indecision shredded her soul into a million tiny pieces, each fragment another statement supporting one side or the other. It was almost like an endless babble in her head, and that they were pouring out of her in droves to manifest their selves in the real world by dictating her actions. Finally, her head was pulled out of her knees and she stood up, wiping the tears off of her face. She knew what she would do.

Picking him up by the back of the knees and the upper back, she carried him to his room. It was simple to tell which was his; it was the only one with the door open and the forehead protector sitting inside. She walked inside and carefully placed him on the soft sleeping mat, kissing his eyelids. "Please, sleep comfortably," she said to him, "for me." He seemed to smile in his sleep, and this allowed Hinata to smile through her sadness and fear. She then gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I love you," she whispered, and then she rose up, walked out and shut the door.

Just as the sliding bamboo door made its familiar clicking sound that signaled its closing, Naruto shot upwards. "Hinata!" he yelled, looking around the room feverishly. Hinata waited just outside, fearing that he had seen her. That is, until he let out a sigh and told himself that it was only a dream. At this she relaxed her shoulders and walked back to her room to contemplate.

The biggest question was that of if she had done the right thing by not telling him she was there. She allowed herself to listen to her thoughts as to why she did this. The first thing she decided was that he most likely did not like her in the first place. Would he really leave her and run away if he really loved her, at least without saying goodbye?

She also realized that the whole point of the journey was to find happiness. However, if Naruto did not like her, than what happiness would be there at the end? 'None,' she told herself. And with this reasoning to back her cowardice, she laid her head on her pillow. That's what it really was, not all of these terrible excuses. It was her own cowardice. The very thing she promised that she would overcome for her love. She formed a seal in her hands. "Byakugan!" she whispered, and she immediately was able to see into Naruto's room.

He was there sitting upright in his dirty clothes. Beads of sweat were rolling down his face as his eyes darted from corner to corner of the room. 'Why did he screamed my name just before he woke up?' she wondered.

Seeing no reason to stay upright any longer, Naruto fell backwards onto his pillow and stared at the ceiling. 'Why her?' he wondered over and over, 'why does her image haunt me?' He lay there wondering about this for a few minutes until he finally fell asleep.

Hinata's heart suddenly fluttered at a reason why he said her name. Maybe… maybe he really did love her! For once, the possibility of this was there, open to her. However, she soon realized the foolishness of her statement and gave way to tears once again, letting them roll down her cheeks. She fell asleep, water leaking out of her eyes, staining her pillow.


	7. Chapter 7, So Close

Hey guys! I know it's been a while since an update, so this one is a little bit longer than normal. Also, if you want update information on where I am currently in the writing process, just check out my profile, I keep it updated every time I write.

Chapter 7

Hinata spent the next day in her room, staring at the ceiling, pacing around in circles, and falling into fits of crying. Sometimes she would get a sudden burst of bravery and get all the way to the door, then her hand would start shaking and she would collapse onto her knees. "Why?" she would ask herself, "Why can't I do this?"

She knew. It was because she was weak. She was too weak to follow through on what she had set out to do, the thing she had set all of her resolve in. The day turned into night, and the stars revealed their selves once more. Her tear stained pillow was soaked once again as she buried her face into it, sobbing with seemingly no end. She didn't know how long it was before she cried herself to sleep.

The next morning at daylight she decided that she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't go back after she had disappeared, she was too afraid of the pain her father would put her through. Finally, she shot out of bed, grabbed her backpack, and ran to the entrance. She signed herself out and dashed as fast as she could down the path, far away from Naruto. She didn't ever want to see him again. Not if she couldn't even get up the nerve to look at him. The fear of rejection was just too great. She needed to get away…

Naruto woke up groggily and yawned, then looked out the window. "Wow," he thought to himself, "It's been a while since I've slept in this long." He stretched again and got up, bathed, dressed himself, and ate a hearty breakfast. It wasn't until noon that he was ready and realized that his ankle had completely healed. "Well," he said aloud, "No time to lose!" He walked up to the reception desk and was about to sign out when he saw just a little higher on the list, "Hinata."

His face went pale as he saw the name and realized that she had been there just this morning and all of yesterday. "She… came for me…" his gaze shifted towards the ground. "She came for me…" he repeated, his voice inlaid with more emotion this time. He sat down on the wooden floor and stared blankly into space. "I… I…" he stuttered. He hadn't ever felt this feeling in him before. It seemed to radiate from his heart and flow through his bloodstream. For the last couple of days she was right there in front of him, and he didn't even see her. It was now he realized what the missing piece was. It wasn't his friends or the village or anything like that. It was Hinata. It was Hinata!

Suddenly, with renewed strength in his legs, he got up, signed out, and ran down the path. He saw her footprints she had left this morning barely noticeable to the untrained eye, but he remembered what her footprint was like when she had walked into school with muddy shoes on. He had never forgotten them for some reason. He ran in their direction, leapt into a tree, and charged at full speed down the trail.

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! _He yelled, forming the seal with his hands. A clone appeared on the branch in front of him and threw him, sending him faster through the branches. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" _he yelled again, and another grabbed his arm, propelling him forward. He did this several times until finally, he was nothing but a blur to anything on the road. He felt a surge of chakra he had never felt before, almost like he was getting his second wind on top of his normal strength. "I'll catch up to you," he declared, "I'll find you!"

Many miles away, Hinata was rushing through the branches as well, going as fast as she could. She couldn't feel her heart anymore, it had turned to stone. She didn't care now, though. In fact, she was glad. She felt much stronger, like a burden had been lifted off of her shoulders. It was the burden of feeling. With this out of the way, she could run and run and run.

Suddenly a black dagger came flying through the branches at her and landed in her leg. She stumbled and fell, landing on her back and rolling along the path until she finally lost momentum. She could feel scrapes and bruises all over her body, and the knife protruded from her left quadricep. She tried to pull it out, but soon realized that it was caught in her flesh. Someone dropped down from the trees above.

The figure was tall and lean, and by his stance it seemed almost obvious that he was very agile. He stood there with three kunai in one hand, each of them barbed like a fisherman's hook. He wore a disturbing mask with scars and blood painted all over it, and he wore black pants and a purple jacket with nothing underneath it. "What's the matter little girl? Can't get up?" He laughed, insanity underplaying his voice. "I've always wanted to take down a Hyuuga."

She didn't know what to do; she was scared, just like before. Then she realized that fear would do no good. Her heart had hardened into that of a warrior's, and so she would fight to her final breath. As she tried to stand up, though, she found her leg would not obey her commands.

The man shook his finger. "Paralysis poison, my young Hyuuga. It takes effect almost immediately on wherever it strikes, and will soon creep through your entire body." He laughed his manic laughter again. "Let's see what happens when it hits your head." However, just as he was raising his kunai to throw it at her, a fist came from behind at speeds unimaginable, penetrating his skull and sending a shard into his brain. The man stood there for a few moments, then fell to the ground in a heap.

Naruto came to a screeching halt, sliding past Hinata, and then came back around to inspect her wounds. "Hinata!" he yelled as he ran back around, "Are you alright?"

Hinata had a nervous look in her eyes as she locked them with Naruto's. It was a mix of love, fear, terror, excitement, and any other kind of feeling she could have at that point as the walls around her heart fell away again. Then she felt a sharp pain in her thigh. Soon after it went completely numb. "Naruto…" she whispered, her pure white eyes staring into his.

He looked down at the kunai lodged in her leg. "My god…" he exclaimed, "What has he done to you?"

Hinata gave a disappointed expression. "It's covered in a paralysis poison. I already feel numb in my upper leg." She began to cry. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

Naruto would have none of it. He scooped her up in his arms. "I remember seeing a map that showed a large village nearby here. It has to have a hospital!" He began to run, first just his normal muscles, but then chakra began to form in them, increasing their power, their speed, their stamina. Soon he was running ten times the speed of a full grown horse. "I have to save her…" he thought, "I have to save her!"

By the time he got there she couldn't feel anything in her left leg, on her left side, her waist or her upper right leg. "Naruto…" she whispered as they entered the city limits, "It's taking me… the poison…" A feeling of hopelessness crept over her as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hinata," said Naruto, "Please don't cry. It hurts me when I see you cry."

A shock ran through her body. "He… doesn't like me to cry?" she thought. Suddenly she began to feel warm and she nestled herself more into his arms, letting her body absorb Naruto's heat.

The young Nin smiled slightly as she did this, but soon got his stern face again and ran into town. It was about a quarter of the size of Konoha, but was just as developed. He asked someone the way to the hospital, and he pointed in one direction. Naruto thanked him and leapt onto a rooftop to get a better view. Not too far away he saw the large white building, and with all of his strength he pushed their two bodies closer towards safety.

When he arrived Hinata was beginning to lose feeling in her torso and her lower right leg. Time was running out. He burst through the door and ran to the desk. "Please," he begged, "She's been struck with a paralysis poison! It's spreading!"

The clerk nodded and made a phone call. Two medical ninja in the traditional hospital blue came rushing down the hallway with a stretcher, onto which Naruto placed the young Hyuuga. She was rushed off to an emergency room where she was inspected. Naruto followed, answering questions the doctors asked. They removed the kunai, then asked Naruto to leave. He was about to fight back, but when Hinata looked at him, he stopped and reluctantly obeyed.

He sat outside of the room for nearly an hour, running possible scenarios through his head. He thanked any power that may be that he caught them when they had very few patients. Despite this, he feared for her. What if she was paralyzed for her whole life? What if he never got to talk to her again? What if she died? The fear ran through his head over and over as he stared into space. Tears slowly began to trickle down his eyes, and he felt his carefree heart begin to fill itself with fear.

Finally, the doctors emerged. "She's just barely okay," said one of them, "We were able to administer the antivenin just in time. However…" he went on, looking at the light figure of the girl, "She's fully paralyzed from her neck down. She won't be moving ever again except in a wheelchair, and even then not unless it is powered by another person." The medical nin directed his gaze towards the ground in sadness. "I'm sorry," he said as he carted her into the room and left them alone.

Naruto was struck speechless. "Paralyzed…" he mouthed, wishing that it could have been different. For the first time since he left on his trip, and for the first time in front of the one he loved, he cried. He cried tears of pain and sorrow for Hinata's lost life and mobility. He wished it could have been different. Why couldn't it have been? He was so close to leading a happy life with her, and now he had his hopes stolen away from him. There had to be a way to cure her of this terrible curse, some way.

"Hey, you doctor!" he yelled at the medical ninja walking away, "Is there any way to reverse this, any way to cure her? Please, there has to be a way!" He was practically on his knees begging for an answer.

The doctor looked at the poor young man who had just had his love stolen away from him. "There is… one way," he said without moving. "In the valley not too far from here, there is an herb, one that has very strange properties. It can remove and even reverse the effects of any venom or toxin, almost like it can see what it has done to their body. However, there is only one problem. The valley is said to be cursed. In fact, nobody has ever returned from it alive. I'm not one to stop you, but please, for your own sake, do not go in there."

Naruto's heart burst with joy at the thought of being able to save Hinata. "Which way is this canyon?" he asked him, his face covered with a hopeful determination.

The doctor sighed. "It's to the west, follow the road there and you will find it. I cannot stop you, so I wish you good luck."

"Not a moment to waste," he said, running out the door into the evening sun. If there was even a chance of curing Hinata, he would get it, no matter what hellish depths he had to enter.


	8. Chapter 8, Gone

Before you read this, I would like to say that this is NOT the end of the story, nor is it drawing to a close. You will understand what I mean when you read.

Chapter 8

After about two hours of walking, the canyon stood in front of him with its maw gaping wide open, ready to swallow him up. There was a bridge across it, but it was not the route he would be taking. Instead, he stood on the very edge, his toes right up to the brim, knocking several rocks off the edge. The canyon was long, bleak, and grey, covered with a thick fog all the way to the top like water up to the brim of a pot. It was so thick he couldn't see two meters down, and even then the field of vision was extremely limited. "This is for Hinata," he whispered to himself, trying to regain his confidence.

Focusing his chakra in his feet, he stepped off the edge and latched onto the wall, from where he stared down into the depths. He took a deep breath and swallowed, then, hesitantly, began the long descent into the unknown below.

The farther he went downwards the thicker the fog became, and the more fear slithered under his skin. It felt like something was breathing down his neck, running its cold claws up and down his spine. Goosebumps began to appear on his skin, and shivers shot through his body. He went deeper and deeper into the grey hell, losing track of time partway through. Finally, when all hope seemed lost of reaching the bottom, he slammed face-first into it, the chakra in his feet disappearing. Slowly he righted himself and looked around in vain to try to see something. Once this didn't work, he came up with an idea.

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_ He yelled, creating one more replica of himself. Then, channeling all of his energy into his palm, the two created the glowing, spinning ball of Chakra known only as the _Rasengan._ He held it high over his head, and the fog began to roll around him. It shifted and twisted and turned, like he was underwater, then made a large wind tunnel over his head. All of the fog was sucked up into it and blown upwards, clearing the scene. With the small glimpse he caught, he found the place to be an arid, flat, desert-like place, with dead trees latching onto the walls of the canyon and hanging on for the dear life they no longer possessed. The dirt was moist but malnourished, all of the nutrients sucked out of it. The pit could be described as nothing other than hellish and dead.

Soon after the fog was lifted though, it quickly re-appeared, turning everything grey once again. If there was hell on earth, this would be it. And so, he came up with a new idea. _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_ He cried out again, and twenty duplicates of him appeared around his person. "Alright, let's find that herb!" he said. They all scattered like mice, moving very slowly and staying close to the ground.

He wandered through the near pitch-blackness of the valley as day turned to night, searching everywhere for the damn herb. Where was it?! It was already dark, and he should have found it by now. Suddenly, he heard a poof! off to his right, then another to his left. He knew this sound well. It was the sound of his shadow replications disappearing. Many others occurred soon after, until he realized that he was the only one left. "Who's there!" he demanded to the darkness, but no answer came back to him except for the shuffling of many feet. Suddenly, he heard something moan behind him, and he shot around to find the animated corpse of a man rising up to swipe at him with his clawed hand. Naruto quickly stepped to the side and plunged a kunai into the side of its head, causing it to stumble back into the fog.

Soon, the smell of rotting flesh overwhelmed him, and he held his hand up to his nose. "Who is there?!" he yelled in fear. He heard more moans coming from around him, but he couldn't see where they were coming from. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his arm and realized that he had been clawed at by one of the creatures. Then he felt his leg being sliced open, sending him to the ground. Large fists came slamming down on his back, and he started screaming in fear. He forced himself upwards and ran through the fog blindly, but something grabbed his leg. He turned around to see a long tendril of pink and grey flesh wrapping around his ankle and crushing it, causing it to crackle and snap in gut-wrenching ways. The moans behind him became louder, and they were joined by ones in front of him as well. "Get away from me!" he yelled into the mist, which was turning black with the night.

Suddenly, a rain of claws came down on him, scratching all over his body, tearing his clothing and ripping apart his flesh, leaving no part of his body uninjured. They kept slicing him open and smashing him until finally a voice rang through the groans of the living dead. "Stop!" it commanded in a deep baritone voice. The monsters backed away from him and disappeared into the mist, only to be replaced by a tall man wearing a long black cloak and carrying a quarterstaff with a skull on the top. "I assume you've come looking for this?" he said, looking down at the near-dead Naruto. He reached into the mouth of the skull and pulled out a small herb.

Raising his hands over his head and making a small chant, the fog rose to just above the man's head and a large light began to emanate from the skull. Around the two were several hundred decaying corpses, standing on two legs. Some had missing limbs or an eye was out of place. Others had no jaws, allowing their tongue to hang out from their throat. "These," he said, motioning with his arms in a semicircle, "Are only a fraction of the people who have entered this canyon in search of this herb. You have not been steered wrong; this herb is all it is said to be. However, you will not be leaving here." He hit his staff on the ground and the corpses began to move in on him, all of them creating some disgusting noise. Joints popped and flesh squelched as they moved in.

With the last ounce of strength he had, Naruto send a shuriken whizzing towards the necromancer, hitting him in the head. He reeled back then slowly returned to his upright position. "Don't you understand?" he said, reaching up and pulling the bloodless throwing star from under his hood, "I posses the most powerful bloodline limit in the world!" he said as he took his hood off. His head was nothing but a skull and vertebra dropping into his cloak. "I am immortal!"

The creatures limped towards the immobile Naruto and began tearing at his body, yanking off limbs and slicing the flesh from his bones. Naruto didn't have any thought as he was being shredded except for one: "I'm sorry, Hinata, I have failed you."

Hyuuga Hinata awoke from her sleep the next morning as the sun rose. She turned her head and looked around the room, scanning for Naruto. He was nowhere to be found. Slowly she tried to get up, but found that she couldn't move, nor could she feel anything below her neck. "Oh god…" she thought as she continued her struggle to arise. "No…" She tried again. "No… No… No!" She swung her head from side to side, trying to force her body up. "This can't be happening! It must be a dream!" She began to cry. "Naruto…" she begged, "Where are you? Please, wake me up; wake me up from this horrid nightmare… Please…"

As the door opened she felt her spirits rise, only to be let down as the doctor came in instead. "Where is Naruto?!" she demanded.

The doctor shook his head. "He's gone, young Hyuuga, he's gone."

"No!" she cried, "No, he can't be! He has to be alive!"

The doctor became stern. "Where he went, there is no coming back. He entered the canyon… looking for a way to cure your paralysis. However, nobody has ever returned from there."

Hinata wanted to get up and protest, but all she could do was lie in her bed and cry. "It can't be…" she whispered, "It wasn't supposed to be like this. We had found each other and we were supposed to be happy. Why… Why?!"

The doctor offered no consolidation as he walked emotionlessly out of the door. It was like this every time they learned of that herb. It didn't matter whether he had told the boy or not, he would have found out about it and gone to try to fetch it. It was just as Hinata had said: why?

Naruto lay motionless on the floor of the canyon, the life vacant from his eyes. All he was anymore was a head and horribly mangled torso. The Necromancer stood over the body and began chanting his incantations, and the parts of his body that had been carelessly flung aside slid across the ground until they lay in two piles on the sides of his body. Very carefully, the necromancer placed the limbs where they once had belonged, and flesh began to form between the point where they were severed, re-attaching the limb.

The dead Naruto rose up from the ground. His back was hunched over and his eyes were bleak and empty. No expression showed on his face. "Now, my newest creation," said the master of death, "Join my legion." Hundreds of bodies sprung up from the ground and small tendrils of human flesh waved in the air. "Join them as one of their greatest fighters, and we shall take the world with out power."

The dead Naruto suddenly underwent a change. His eyes turned a ferocious red, and his hands transformed into deadly claws. Red chakra in the form of flame enveloped him. He turned his head to the necromancer. "No," he said.


	9. Chapter 9, Still Alive

Chapter 9

The necromancer was struck with awe at the amount of power that began to flow through the boy. He was impressed, yet afraid at the same time. This was his chance. If this boy was as powerful as he seemed to be, and if he could regain control of the corpse, he could easily control one of the most powerful beings on earth! All he had to do was force his will on the boy and it would be finished.

He put on a false sense of confidence. "No?" he exclaimed, "No? Nobody says no to me!" He held his bony hand out in front of him and a river of black chakra began to seep out of it and flow like water around the Kyuubi boy's body. "You cannot defy death, it is mine to control! You are mine!"

"No," Naruto repeated, "No, I am more. I am above you!" The fiery chakra around him became stronger and pushed the black chakra backwards until the necromancer was forced let it seep from other parts of his body. It leaked out of his arms, his face, everywhere, and smoked out from under his cloak.

"Do not resist me," he said, "It is pointless! I brought you back to life, now you owe it to me." The black chakra began to press in on the fire and slowly caused it to grow weaker. It grew tighter and tighter, forcing the chakra back into Naruto. "Let your soul go!" the Necromancer proclaimed.

"No," he repeated, "I already said, I'm above you. I'm above death!" Naruto then gathered all of his chakra in his core and caused an explosion of the red power from his body. Just as it seemed that the black around him would give way, however, it pressed in and squelched the flame around him, leaving him defenseless.

The evil power seeped into his body through his skin, manifesting itself by causing the muscles inside of him to twitch, tense, and relax. He was soon flailing about like a rag doll, and there was nothing Naruto could do about it. His body, along with the Kyuubi's power, was now in the hands of this disgusting monster. He had lost.

His consciousness lay in a small corner of his mind, pressed and locked away by the evil chakra. "I have failed you again," he whispered to himself, "I pushed myself to the limit and failed you. Even my best couldn't save you…. Hinata-chan…" His mind then caved in to the black and fell dormant, leaving only the will of the necromancer in his body.

Hinata lay naively in her hospital bed, tears pouring out of her eyes and falling onto her pillow. Was this all there was left for her? Her love dead while she was trapped in a bed all of her life? It couldn't be. It couldn't! But in her heart of hearts she knew that this was the truth; her life was now hell on earth, and she couldn't even end it. The people around her would cruelly keep her alive, miserable and paralyzed for the rest of her days.

Suddenly, a huge crash occurred outside. Hinata craned her neck around to see what was going on, but all that she saw was smoke raising from the corner of the window. Then, another louder crash occurred a few seconds later, than another. A soft moaning emanated from the streets below, a chilling sound that she thought she had once heard in a zombie movie. She couldn't feel her body anymore, but if she could she would find a chill creeping over it.

The sound of wood splintering came from just down the hall, then that of the pieces falling to the ground. A scream from a lady came from below, but was sharply cut off and replaced with a loud CRACK of bones breaking. A pair of footsteps came slowly from outside of the hallway, and in walked a tall person with a cloak wrapped loosely around his body. "Come in," he said in his deep voice, and in walked Naruto. However, he was not the same. Bones were randomly growing out of his body, and his eyes were empty, nothing but white. A great black flame danced around him, and nine long black tails undulated slowly behind him.

Hinata let out a short gasp. "Naruto?" breathed Hinata, "Naruto, what has he done to you?"

"I have given him power," said the man, taking off his hood and revealing his bare white skull in its eternal grin, "And in return your friend here has offered his obedience. Not like he had much of a choice." It let out a laugh that seemed to be overlaid with a second, darker, more demonic voice. "Now," he said, looking over at Naruto, "Kill her. Kill the one you once loved."

The dead Naruto walked over to the pale Hinata and looked at her with his totally white eyes. Then it smiled a devious, trickster kind of smile at the girl and winked. Suddenly, one of the tails whipped out and caught the necromancer around the waist and pulled him over. He moved his arms to form a seal, but four other tails wrapped around his arms and legs. Slowly, the undead Naruto turned around to meet gazes with the monster. "So sorry," said the Kyuubi's voice, "But I can't have Naruto's love die just yet." The black flame changed to red. "See, after I killed you he would have returned and if he had found her dead, god knows what he would do. No, I can't let that happen, so I guess that means that you are going to die prematurely. Sorry I wasn't able to help you in your destruction."

Just as he was about to protest, the demon Naruto placed his clawed hand on top of the monster's skull and crushed it. The bones all suddenly fell through the holes in the cloak and dropped to the floor, small white leaves falling to the floor. The necromancer was no more. Subsequently, the excess bones disappeared from Naruto's body and the red flame around him dissipated. The moans in the street all stopped with one loud poof, and so did the living dead disappear as well.

Suddenly coming to, Naruto took back control over his body and looked down at the paralyzed Hinata. "Hold on," he said, brushing his hand over her cheek. He then bent down and picked up a piece of the herb from the pile that had fallen out of the necromancer's crushed skull. Once he had gotten back up, he placed it in Hinata's mouth. She chewed it and swallowed, and feeling began to wash over her again. Slowly at first, starting at the bottom of her neck, but then flowing down her torso and into her arms, then picking up speed and within a matter of minutes she could move her entire body.

Once the process was complete she leaped off of the bed and into Naruto's arms. "Naruto," she said, sobbing, "Thank god you're alive! You didn't have to do it! You didn't have to go down there!"

"I wanted to, though," he said, "I wanted to save you."

She looked up at him through watery eyes then buried her face in his shoulder again. "I… I thought I'd lost you! When the doctor said you had gone down there, I thought you died… I thought…"

Instead of making a comment on why she wouldn't trust him to come back, he ran his fingers through her hair. "It's okay, I'm here, and I'm alive. I'm just so glad that you are."

Hinata didn't know what to say, so instead she looked up at him again, got on her toes, and brought her lips to meet his. It didn't matter where they were, it didn't matter what had happened, she just felt like she had to. Naruto was taken by surprise, but instead of falling backwards, he held her body closer to his and returned the kiss, letting all of his hidden emotions flow out of him and dance around them. All of his love he had tried to suppress and hide was now naked in front of the person he was most afraid to show it to.

When they parted lips, each looked at each other for a long time. Naruto ran his fingers through Hinata's hair again, but she grabbed his hand and placed it on her cheek, feeling its warmth. He just gave a small, warm smile and pulled her close to him again.

After a few minutes they released and he reached down, taking one of the leaves of the plant. Within he found a tiny seed. "We need to get this to the doctors!" he exclaimed.

The two offered the plants to the physicians and they studied it for a moment, then realized that with those seeds, they could plant a garden and make it so that this herb was no longer out of reach. It could and would save hundreds of lives in the future, and the doctors offered their eternal gratitude. Naruto wasn't thinking of that at the moment. All he could think about was the person that stood at his side, smiling hopefully up at the doctors.

The two decided to spend the rest of the day at the city, so they checked out of the hospital and went out to a small forested hill just beyond the buildings. When they sat down Hinata looked up at him shyly, then looked away and began to blush. "N-Naruto-kun…" she whispered to him, "I…"

Naruto placed his hand underneath her chin and lightly guided her head so that she was facing him. He then he kissed her long and slow. After regretfully pulling away he placed her head in his lap. "You don't have to be shy anymore," he said, "Because I'm done being shy to you. Hinata, I've wanted to say this forever, but hadn't really realized it until I was on my journey. Now I think I know why I was traveling: because I was missing something and I had to search for it. However, I had to leave my home in order to see it; I had to live without it in order to recognize it. Hinata, it's more than just a crush. I… I love you." A hint of a tear welled up in his eye.

Just before he was able to wipe it away, Hinata rose up from his lap and brushed it away with her finger, then placed a light kiss on his cheek. "I love you too," she whispered in his ear, and then fell back down in his lap. It was comfortable there, and she felt like she wouldn't ever have to move again. She loved it there. She felt safe.

Naruto was taken aback by what she said. He was old enough to know the difference between a crush and love, and he couldn't believe that it had taken him so long to realize that he really loved her. It didn't bother him though, he didn't care. He had her now, and that was all he would ever need.

That night they rented a room at the local inn. They argued a little about who should pay for it, but eventually Naruto just slapped his money on the counter, not giving Hinata a chance to put hers down. Neither of them really did care, but Hinata found it cute how he wanted to pay. They decided that neither of them were uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed together, so they got one bedroom.

That night, after Naruto had gotten ready for bed and curled up under the blankets in his PJs, he began to wonder, mainly about whether he should return to Konoha or not. It was true that it was his home, but when he returned what kind of life would he be leading? Not one that he wished for anymore. He decided that he would think about it the next day and turned in the bed so that he was looking out the window.

Silently he heard the bathroom door open then close behind him and the sheets pull back so that Hinata could slip in. Instead of staying on her side of the bed though, she scooted over so she could wrap her arms around him and hold him close. Naruto gave a small sigh of relaxation and reached back to run his fingers through her hair. "You're very warm right now," he commented, smiling.

She gave a small smile too then ran her hand beneath his pajama top to feel his soft, warm stomach. "Your skin is really soft," she said, cuddling closer to him.

"Haha, thank you," he said, blushing. However, he began to blush even harder when he didn't feel any sleeves on her arm. "Umm… Hinata, are you…?" He flipped over on his other side and found her bare underneath the covers. "Hinata!" he exclaimed. However, this wasn't an exclamation of anger or excitement, just a wondering of what she was doing.

She lowered her head in disappointment. "I don't mean that I want to _do_ anything…" she murmured, "I just felt like I could be open with you and not hide who I really am underneath my clothes… I didn't think you would ridicule me…"

Naruto just brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. "Of course I wouldn't. You're beautiful no matter what you wear." He kissed her on the forehead. The old him would have probably freaked out and slept in the chair for the night, but he wasn't afraid of this anymore. Then he took his own pajama top off.

"What are you doing?" asked Hinata.

"Exactly what you are doing," he said, "I trust you, and I'm willing to be completely open to you. He set his shirt on the ground and cuddled closer to her. "You're even warmer now," he said, resting his head right in front of hers.

She just gave a warm sigh and curled up in his arms, letting her mind fall into a deep sleep.


	10. Chapter 10, Run

Chapter 10

Naruto woke up very early to find Hinata in his arms and figured that they must have moved closer together while they were in their sleep. He smiled and gave her a light kiss on the forehead and thought long and hard about his decisions thus far. First was his decision to leave his beloved village of Konoha and its ramen to warm his belly, his friends to confide in, and the familiar-ness of everything there. He had to admit though, he didn't miss any of it one bit. He hadn't regretted a single decision he had made, even his descent into the hellish depths of the canyon. It was worth it all for the person in his arms.

He smirked at himself, recalling his views on being with someone at the age of sixteen, how he had said it was pointless and how it could and would fall away so easily. This was different though, it went without saying. His feelings for Hinata were not shallow, nor did they suddenly leap on him. These feelings were deep-seated and had grown over the time he knew her. They were more than just a crush. This was love; he had no doubt in his mind about it. Others may claim that it does not exist or that it is impossible to feel it at his age, but their words were crushed by what he felt.

He laughed in spite of himself. Ninja are not supposed to use silly words like "feelings." They were supposed to be strong in will and untouchable by emotion. He ran this through his head until Hinata woke up and looked up at him with her large white eyes. "Mmm…" she mumbled, stretching, "Good morning." She smiled her signature smile, the tiny one that hardly was there at all but added a feeling of content on her face. She couldn't believe that everything that had happened… happened. It was all so unreal, so impossible. She lay naked and warm next to the one she loved who was conveniently missing a shirt.

Suddenly, she blushed harder than she ever had before. She was naked in bed… with Naruto… She freaked out and hid under the covers, trying to hide her face. It was so scary. Now that she finally had the one she loved, she was shyer than ever when she really ran it through her head. She quickly grabbed some clothes on the side of the bed and began dressing herself beneath the sheets. What was she thinking?

Naruto was baffled by her sudden shyness. "Hinata," he said curiously, "Why are you freaking out all of a sudden? Is something wrong?"

A tiny voice came from under the covers. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to do that! I don't know what I was thinking…"

Naruto was a bit confused. "I don't see why you're so worried, you didn't do anything wrong."

Hinata peeked out from underneath the covers just enough to reveal her white, worried eyes. "R-really?" she stuttered, "You mean it?"

The young traveler just smiled. "Of course you haven't done anything wrong." He slipped lower into the covers and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, and that's all that matters."

The young Hyuuga's eyes went from surprise to embarrassment very quickly, but then to hide her full-face blush she slid back under the covers to finish getting dressed. Naruto also turned to the other side of the bed, grabbed his things and went into the bathroom. "I'll be right back, okay Hinata?" he said just before he went in.

Hinata, now on her stomach, pulled up the covers on the side to reveal her face. "Okay," she said, then went back to changing. Naruto smiled back and walked into the bathroom to get his day clothes on. Hinata was very scared of all the changes that had happened recently, and everything was just beginning to hit her. She had turned her whole life in another direction by leaving the village and all she knew. She wouldn't see her cousin Neji anymore, or her home, or her friends… Suddenly, unable to hold it back, she began to cry.

Immediately when Naruto heard the sobbing he came rushing, half-naked, out of the bathroom. "Hinata!" he exclaimed, kneeling down beside her, "What's wrong?"

She sniffled a little bit and wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm just thinking about how we may never see anyone we knew again. It's all left behind…"

Naruto felt a little pang of sadness as he recalled his old friends in the village as well… Kakashi, Sakura, and… Iruka… the man that made him feel accepted when he was alone, and even now when he felt wanted by someone else, he was still like a father, his family. Suddenly, Naruto's head jerked up. "Hinata…" he said suddenly, "We have to go now!"

Hinata was surprised, but sprang into action, getting all of her stuff ready. "Wait, what's wrong?" she asked hurriedly. In his panic she forgot about the village and got going as fast as she could.

"Just come on!" he yelled, "We may not have much time!"

After all of their stuff was back in their small packs they set out on the road again, the paved path beneath them whizzing by, and the wind blowing in their faces. Hinata's question still remained unanswered. "What is going on?!" she demanded out of him.

"Hinata," he said, "The first time I went out for Sasuke when I was twelve, Jiraya stopped us before we could leave. He said that if we ran away on something that was not mission-related, then we would be considered 'Missing Ninja,' and we would be hunted by the ANBU. Think about it for a second."

Hinata's face went pale with realization. "So that means…" Her voice trailed off before she started again. "With all of that commotion back there, you are sure to have been mentioned, and ANBU will come here like bloodhounds on a scent."

"I believe that they have been tracking our scent already," he said. "It is most likely that they have been following us ever since we left the village and are just waiting for the correct moment to strike." He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "How to lose them…" he said out loud, "How to lose them, how to lose them…"

He did this for several minutes until finally he came up with an idea. "Hinata," he said, "When I give the signal, take my hand and don't let go. Ready?"

Hinata nodded.

"Good." He placed his fingers in the strange cross seal. "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled, and 100-someodd shadow replications appeared around the pair. Then about half of them placed their hands into seals. "Henge!" they yelled, and they turned into replications of Hinata. Each took the hand of a Naruto clone and ran off in different directions through the forest.

Suddenly, three ANBU members in their classic face masks leaped down from the trees and began throwing their daggers in random directions. The clones had them so confused, however, that many of their kunai ended up in the trunks of trees or hopelessly lost in the forest. All of the clones used this time to speed as fast as they could away from that spot. The pursuing ninja were befuddled, and decided that the only things that they could do were chase after them through the woods.

After they had gotten a good distance away they stopped. "Naruto," she whispered, even though she was convinced that they had lost the pursuers, "Why don't we just stop running? The more we run the more trouble we get in, and we can't evade them forever. Let's just stop. It's pointless, and it would be a struggle every day to get away."

Naruto was caught off-guard by her proposal. "Hinata…" he said quietly, "I know that you don't like being chased by the ANBU. I don't like it either. Hell, life would be so much easier if we just gave in right now; we could grow old and still be remembered as ninja. But for me…" He looked up at her, his eyebrows furrowed into a look of determination like the one he had on when he first left the village of Konoha.

"For me, this is more than just running away. This is about finding what I really am, and this is one of the best ways to become Hokage, to learn about the outside world. If I just give up now, I would be giving up on everything I believe in, all of my hopes, my dreams," he softened his look at Hinata, "And you. I want to be Hokage; that has never changed in me. But now, if I gave up on my journey, I wouldn't just be losing all of the chances I have at attaining that title, I would be giving up the chance to be the best person I could be for you."

Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes for a few moments, drinking in his emotion and letting it flow through her veins, through her subconscious. He gave up his entire old life to become a better person… for her. Everything he had said was too overwhelming, and she fell into his arms weeping. "Naruto…" she sobbed, "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

Naruto only stroked her hair and smiled. "It's okay, it's okay."

Slowly, the Hyuuga heiress righted herself and wiped the tears from her eyes. The old her had fallen away, the unconfident scared girl of her childhood that was always nervous to make bold decisions. Now, if even just by a little bit, she felt stronger than she ever had before. She returned Naruto's soft gaze with the one that he had worn through this whole thing, the one that said she was set in what she wanted to do. "We have to hurry then," she said, and Naruto responded with a nod.

They flew through the trees, covering their tracks with a new Jutsu that Hinata had learned. Finally, after another hour or so of running, they came to a small clearing with one huge tree in the center. Hinata scanned the area with her Byakugan and found that one of the trees was hollowed, and the entrance was hidden just beneath the soil. She pointed this out and they dug through the earth until they found the small hole. When they entered they saw that it was very roomy, with enough space for at least ten people lying flat out on the ground. Then, after they had gotten all of their stuff through, they covered the entrance back up.

The tree was very dimly lighted from small holes that had been made in the trunk, but disguised enough from the outside for it to be impossible to tell that they were there. Naruto collapsed onto the ground, lying spread eagle, his arms and legs flung out to the sides. Hinata sat down next to him and gazed at his tired body. She reached for the neck of his jacket and grabbed the zipper, pulling it down so his jacket lay open. She then, with a little bit of assistance from Naruto, was able to get it off. Blushing, she propped him up and lifted his shirt off.

Naruto looked at her inquisitively. "What are you doing?" he asked, a slight blush appearing on his face.

"I'm just helping you get comfortable," she said with her little smile stretching across her mouth and her cheeks powdered red.

"Oh," replied Naruto, "In that case…" He sat up on his legs and slowly took Hinata's white jacket off.

"What are you doing?" she asked, putting a slight emphasis on the word 'you.'

"You looked a little bit warm, so I thought I might help you cool off."

Suddenly, Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and gave him a long, deep kiss. Then, slowly and suddenly at the same time, she slipped her tongue into his mouth and ran her hands over his warm back. He responded by wrapping his arms around her and aggressively moving his tongue in between her lips. Soon they were on their sides, kissing each other passionately.

Hinata was beginning to need a breath of fresh air, so she slowly pulled back from his face. Naruto, however, wasn't about to finish. He reached down and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, slowly pulling it up over her head. He ran his fingers along her smooth stomach and pressed his lips against hers once more.

"This was the day," she thought, "The day that I left behind everything I had to live the dream that few even dare to touch. It was all so sudden, just over the course of a few weeks. Back in Konoha I was only what my father wanted me to be. Now, however, I can be anything I want, do anything I want. I'm… free. I'm free to be with him."

Naruto looked at Hinata for a moment. "Hey Hinata," he said, "Are you okay?"

Hinata gave him a long, deep kiss, her tongue moving around his lips. "I'm better than I've ever been in my life," she whispered in his ear before she began nibbling on it.

By the time they were finished all of their clothes were scattered around the hollowed tree. Hinata, however enthusiastic she had been, had decided along with Naruto that sex was just too much now, especially without protection. At the young age of sixteen, she was not ready for motherhood, and didn't want to risk it. However, they could have a very good time without doing any of that and that night they had taken full advantage of it.

Naruto had fallen asleep before Hinata, leaving Hinata in thought. She was amazed at how much she had changed in between the time she left and where she was now. She was free of her family's expectations, and even more than that she had the confidence to confront her life head-on. If she ever did go back, she would be a much better person already.

However, she thought, she was in no hurry as long as she had Naruto. He was the world to her, and the fact that he felt the same way about her made her feel like she could take on the world and all it could throw at her. Her moves had all been bold, and she didn't regret any of them.


End file.
